Archbishop Thabo Makgoba - St Martin’s, Bergvliet – Sermon Précis
21 February 2010
Deut 26:1-11; Lk 4:1-13
Lent recalls Jesus’ 40 days of temptation, immediately after his baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and he heard a voice from heaven saying ‘You are my Son, the Beloved.’ In the wilderness, Jesus wrestles with what it means to be the Beloved Son of God the Father, filled with the Spirit.
We too must ask what it means for us to be united in baptism with Jesus in his death and resurrection, to know that God calls us his Beloved Child, to grasp the promise that the Holy Spirit has been given, God’s gift, to dwell within us. Lent is a time to return to the fundamental question, ‘Who am I?’ We must also ask ‘Who are we?’ as Christians together, whether within this parish; as members of this Diocese, Province and Anglican Communion; or within the body of Christ united with Christians of all denominations, across past, present and future.
